Classical

Andy Narell, who “took the steelpan out of the steelband and brought… (DimitriTolstoi )

September 01, 2013|By JEFFREY JOHNSON, Special To The Courant, The Hartford Courant

GARMANY CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES: This is the fifth season of the Garmany Chamber Series, and in that short time it has gained significant national attention. In this season-opening event, Jaime Laredo, known as both a conductor and as a violinist, and pianist Joseph Kalichstein will perform on the first half of the program and will be joined by the Hartt String Quartet after intermission for the rarely heard Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Op.21 by Ernest Chausson.

Donizetti's final opera, in which a lifetime of insights about humanity are expressed in a comic opera. This performance, directed by Nate Merchant, will be fully staged and performed with an orchestra. The cast will feature Megan Pachecano as Norina, Adelmo Guidarelli as Pasquale, and Kirk Dougherty as Ernesto.

HARTFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 70TH ANNIVERSARY OPENING NIGHT: The HSO returns to the Mortensen Hall for these events and will play the massive and impressive Symphony No. 3 (nicknamed the "Organ Symphony") by Camille Saint-Saëns. Organist Edward Clark, will join the orchestra for the symphony and will also play the Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor. The event, conducted by HSO Music Director Carolyn Kuan, will also feature a Concerto for Pipa and String Orchestra by Lou Harrison with soloist Wu Man.

In a performance that will include works by Mozart and Mendelssohn, JoAnn Falletta, best known as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, will conduct the ICO with two celebrated flute soloists; Sir James Galway and his wife Lady Jeanne Galway.

CONNECTICUT CONCERT OPERA: Salieri's "The Little Harlequinade" and Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci". This production of Pagliacci will feature tenor Benjamin Sloman as Canio, soprano Melissa Shippen as Nedda, and Baritone DongWon Kim as Tonio. The rarely heard, brief, but hilarious "Little Harlequinade" by Antonio Salieri will make for a wonderful extra treat.

Nov. 1 at 8 p.m., and Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. Hoffman Theater of the University of Saint Joseph, 1678 Asylum Ave., West Hartford. Tickets here and at 860-722-2300.

HSO MASTERWORKS SERIES: "BEETHOVEN AND BERNSTEIN": HSO Music director and conductor Carolyn Kuan will lead the HSO in Leonard Bernstein's ballet score "Fancy Free" and Beethoven's seventh symphony, which is a work often associated with Leonard Bernstein, and which was featured in his last performance at Tanglewood in August 1990. Violinist Peter Winograd will join the orchestra as soloist in the Piazzolla "Four Seasons of Buenos Aires."

This concert of unusual colors will feature the internationally recognized Parisian steel drum player Andy Narell. He has been credited as being a pioneer "took the steelpan out of the steelband and brought it into the jazz band."

HSO MASTERWORKS SERIES: "GREENSLEEVES & SIRENA": Guest conductor Joel Smirnoff returns this season to lead the HSO in the Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 3 and the Vaughan Williams "Fantasia on Greensleeves." Sirena Huang, well known to HSO audiences as our hometown violin virtuoso, will be soloist in the Sibelius Violin Concerto.